I now understand what people mean about walking into a petstore and being
unable to leave without a particular ferret.  Here I thought it was just a
convenient excuse and not the completely unwithstandable onslaught of a
tiny, perfect, beautiful, fuzzy little face on my soul....
 
I went to Petco last night to pick up a big sack of Iam's kitten (I feed a
mix of that and TF) and some Nutri-Stat and some more jingle-balls.  Came
away with those plus the SWEETEST new friend!!!  I had never planned on
ever patronizing a Petco for a ferret... I'm sorry, Great Shelter-Ferret
Goddess in the Sky.  I just hadta.
 
She wasn't even the one I thought was the cutest.  The CUTEST one was this
sweet tiny little black sable girl with a white patch on her throat.  But
then this girl bounced right into my hand, looked up at me, and that was
it.  It wasn't her looks...it was her eyes.  Those beautiful, alert,
intelligent eyes.
 
My new baby girl is a light-silver mitt with a perfect, narrow blaze from
the top of her head to between her shoulders, a white tailtip and
nearly-black patches on the sides of her shoulders and her forehead.  Her
tummy is pure white.  Her coat is lush and full and soft -- a full winter
coat (if kits can get those??) She's gorgeous!  She is a Triple-F ferret
and is probably 6-7 weeks old, but was one of the largest kits in the
batch.  (Again... I'm drawn to the runts, not the big kids... but... well,
she just stole my heart away and stashed it away someplace!!)
 
After letting her explore the kitchen floor on her own a bit, I went and
got my other female, Onyx, and introduced them; that went fine, and so I
got brave and brought in my two boys, too.  Again, lots of sniffing and
racing around, but they got along fine!  There was some
dragging-baby-around stuff but nothing too scary...and she seems to give
back almost as good as she gets!  They all seem to think she is fun and
cool, too.
 
When I first saw her I thought she was smart; she didn't let me down.  My
cage doesn't have ramps, it uses those fleece-lined tubes instead, and she
figured them out almost immediately and already traipses the 4 levels of
the cage almost as easily as the big kids.  The others are starting to
sleep with her though there is a certain amount of grumbling, I think, when
she wants to eat their ears and they want to sleep!
 
Last night she weighed in at 500grams, her body (neck/tail not included) is
almost as long as my hand from fingertips to wrist.  She has a tiny, almost
inaudible but happy little dook, and when she runs on linoleum she forgets
where she stored the brakes and generally lands in a noseplant, then
quickly gathers herself up and races off again like a miniature herd of
buffalo.  This afternoon she divulged her identity as a waterferret when
she stepped into a shallow pan of warm water after a jingle ball and
gleefully splashed around for a while.  With me she is VERY gentle, nips a
tiny bit (rarely) in play but gives *WONDERFUL* snuggly kisses, and so far
is 100% in the litter box.  Can you believe it?!?!?!
 
So basically, yes, Math has struck.  (And there's a good chance it may
strike again, too...Grover and Onyx may be rejoined by an old friend.)
 
oh... I am providing softened food mixed with Gerber's and some milk along
with the standard kibble; she does like that but seems perfectly happy to
eat the hard kibble too.
 
Anyone have any ideas on names for this tiny little piece of wonder?  I've
got a few in the works, but she needs a very special one!
 
Bemusedly,
(WA-state) Megan, and
 
lovely nameless ( "Alpha" means you have a sign hung on your tail that
                  reads, "Ambush Me", right??? )
Grover ( No, that means I'll troll you if you try it!!! )
Onyx ( What do you MEAN I'm not allowed in the living room under the
       loveseat with an entire bag of Craisins? Sheesh!!!! )
Loki Gabriel ( A new friend! And she looks like me (mostly)! Cool!!! )
Cinnebar-the-Cat ( Oh gods, not ANOTHER one.... )
[Posted in FML issue 2540]